


Mel's story

by Yoonjae91107



Category: Original Work
Genre: Baby in a picnic basket in the river, Gen, Grandmother is the best, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating May Change, Runaway, Survival, Taekjin on the run, runaway boy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:26:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24509119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yoonjae91107/pseuds/Yoonjae91107
Summary: Mel's story. She's an oc from my bts littlespace fic 'Finally Safe'. Needed her own story.
Relationships: No Romantic Relationships - Relationship, no sexual relationships





	Mel's story

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Finally Safe](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15418596) by [Yoonjae91107](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yoonjae91107/pseuds/Yoonjae91107). 



> 1,974 words  
> Unedited

Rain beat down on a bridge. It beat down on the rest of the earth as well, thunder rolling deeply. Lightning flickered. A boy ran his hand through his wet hair, breathing heavily. He’d been running all day. Now, however, it was very late at night. He sat on a rocky bank with a swirling river only four or five feet away. He threw down his bag and laid down on the rocks, allowing himself to catch his breath. Park Taekjin was thankful for the bridge over his head.

Eventually, he gathered the twigs and branches that had accumulated under the brick structure, slowly building up a fire. Taekjin used the matches he had in his coat pocket, thankfully dry. Striking one on the box, he held the small piece of wood to the small twigs, the small flame the only light he had. Aside from the lightning, of course, bright white bolts, zipping through the sky. The twigs caught, and his fire eventually grew into a moderately sized campfire. Huddling close to the warmth he had created, the boy pulled off his damp clothes, laying them out to dry on the rocks.

Taekjin ruffled his black hair, water spraying everywhere. He needed to warm up and dry off, otherwise, he could possibly get hypothermia. That could potentially cause asthma and/or death in severe cases.

Watching his fire for several minutes, the warm light illuminating his face, Taekjin smiled. He had done well that day. He had found a new backpack in the dumpster behind a grocery store, found another pair of scissors, and gotten some canned food. Collecting things he needed was usually what Taekjin did each day. The raven had also accomplished a proper roundhouse in a fight, a fight he had won. It may have been against a drunk guy who had tried to steal his backpack, but it was a fight nonetheless.

It was nice, to be dry in the midst of the storm. Taekjin found a blue-painted tin cup in his backpack, scooping some water from the river. The boy drank slowly, enjoying the lightning show and the warmth of the fire he had built. After a long while, he had his back to the fire, and the boy entertained himself by poking a stick into the swirling river. The current parted around the small branch, swirling away. Taekjin knew he should sleep, but he decided to stay awake.

A woven basket floated down the river, startling him. The raven darted out and snatched the soaking wet item from the river, bringing it over to his fire. It was a picnic basket, and there had been a few days of really good weather in the area he was in. It wasn’t impossible for there to be food in the basket.

Sitting on the rocks, Taekjin opened the woven basket. Startled, the runaway pulled a baby from the picnic basket. A living, breathing infant. It was a newborn as well, the teen having to support the child’s head. She seemed to have moderate hypothermia. Her weak cry barely reached his ears.

Remove all wet clothing. The boy peeled off the wet blanket the infant was bundled in, lying it out beside the fire to dry. Use body heat to transfer warmth. Taekjin held the infant close to his chest, which was muscled but mostly thin, and bare. The baby was entirely naked, having only been dressed in the blanket. The teen took his tshirt from the ground, now dry, and wrapped it around the small child. The basket was otherwise empty, serving only as a carrier for the infant.

“Who are you, little baby?” Taekjin sighed. “Why were you in the river?”

The baby merely cried.

“I suppose you’re hungry… I think I have some milk.” The boy leaned over to grab his backpack, dragging it toward himself.

There was no milk. Taekjin sighed. The baby’s cries had regained some strength, which was a good thing and a bad thing at the same time. Hypothermia was a smaller threat now, but the baby was hungry and hadn’t eaten in who knew how long.

Taekjin’s clothes were dry, so he gratefully pulled them on -except his shirt, which was now the baby’s clothes- and wrapped the child inside his coat with himself, the baby held securely to his chest. The red blanket was still damp, so Taekjin couldn’t put the baby back inside it. He set the woven picnic basket near the fire to dry, then setting stones in the fire to warm them up.

Once everything was dry or warm, he wrapped the baby in the blanket, setting her back into the basket, with the warm stones. Those were to keep her body temperature up. Taekjin pulled out a part of a broken umbrella, the tarp-like material that covers the metal skeleton of the umbrella. He closed the basket, draping the blue tarp over it. He duct-taped it in place, then extinguishing his fire and leaving the dry solace of the bridge.

Rain beat down on his head, the boy running toward a safe place. A place he knew the baby would survive. 

[][][]

“Taekjin?” a sleepy old lady asked.

“Hello, grandmother,” the boy panted. “Sorry to bother you so late in the night.”

He was standing on the doorstep of his grandmother’s house, dripping wet. The picnic basket was held tightly in his hand. The woman inside the house was dressed in a nightgown, her wrinkled face pinched in confusion.

“Oh, my boy… come in, come in. You’re all wet!” the elder fussed, pulling the boy inside. She began pulling off Taekjin’s backpack and wet clothes, muttering about how he was going to catch a cold, running in the rain. “You must already be sick, poor Taekjin… have you slept? It’s nearly 4:30.”

“No, no, grandmother. The picnic basket,” Taekjin fought away from her, setting his basket on the floor and ripping off the umbrella tarp. 

“What’s so important about the basket?” Yoonjae wondered. 

“This,” he murmured, opening it. “I found a baby. I don’t have the supplies to keep her alive.”

“My land,” Taekjin’s grandmother gasped.

He gently took the newborn from her basket, being sure to support her head. Cradling the sleeping baby to his chest, he looked to his grandmother with pleading eyes. “Will you please let me stay here for a while? I need to make sure she survives.”

“Oh, heaven’s sakes Taekjinnie, of course,” she assured, pulling him into a loose hug.

“Grandmother, I need to feed her. She hasn’t eaten,” the younger mumbled.

“Yes, I’ll see if I can find any bottles for her.” Yoonjae left the entryway, disappearing into the kitchen.

Taekjin sighed, cradling the sleeping baby to his chest. The rocks had served their purpose, nearly curing the infant’s hypothermia. He hurried to the hallway, opening the bathroom door.

His grandmother had decorated the bathroom pleasantly, sailboats stitched into the shower curtain. There were small sailboats positioned carefully beside the soap on the sink, with colors of blue and white. The walls had been painted a sky blue, with thin white stripes interrupting the solid color.

The baby had ended up doing her business in his faded tshirt, which Taekjin pulled off of the baby. Throwing it into the bathtub, He turned the sink taps on, running a small bath for her.

“Here, Taekjin-ah.” His grandmother held a baby bottle filled with warmed milk.

“Thank you, grandmother,” the boy returned with a smile. 

“Of course, child.” Yoonjae ruffled her grandson’s hair and left him to care for the child. She knew he was capable of it.

After giving the infant a small bath in the sink, Taekjin dried her off and found an old hand towel in the depths of the linen closet behind him. He tied it around her bottom, creating a makeshift diaper.

By that time, she had woken again. The infant cried immediately, hungry. Taekjin pressed the rubber end of the bottle between her lips, the younger’s cries soothed. She drank hungrily, as if she hadn’t eaten in days.

Taekjin left the bathroom, feeding the baby and wandering around the house, eventually trusting his grandmother to watch her while he cleaned himself up. The boy took a quick shower, then getting dressed in the clothes Yoonjae had set out for him.

“Back already?” the eldest asked.

“Yes, thank you for the clothes grandmother, and for letting me stay.” Taekjin bowed to her.

“Anytime, child, I’ll always be here for you. Even if your father isn’t.” She rocked gently back and forth, her rocking chair silent on the oak floor. The baby was cradled in her arms, another bottle pressed to the infant’s lips. “I was put in this world to care for the black sheep.”

“Thank you,” Taekjin murmured once more, hugging his grandmother gently.

“Please sleep, love. You look absolutely exhausted. You remember where the blankets and pillows are?”

“Hallway linen closet,” Taekjin said, heading into the hall. He returned a minute later with a pillow and a few blankets. “You’re sure you don’t mind taking care of her while I rest? I may sleep for a long time, grandmother.”

“Sleep all the time you need, Taekjinnie. I can watch your precious ‘found baby’. Sun’s coming up anyway, I don’t mind staying up.” Yoonjae continued rocking, gazing off into the distance as she spoke. She smiled slightly. “You little black sheep, darkest of them all. I know how you get in fights, and yet… ever so polite to your grandmother.”

“Yes, you have earned my respect. You are trustworthy and kind. You do not judge from first glance, you are always able to find their story. You have not held my irrational actions against me, and loved me regardless the reckless choices I tend to make,” Taekjin murmured, lying a blanket down beside his grandmother’s rocking chair.

“I know that you know what you’re doing, unlike your father. You are my precious little black sheep, I will care for you until the day I die.”

Taekjin nodded, lying down on the floor. He cozied up, mumbling, “Please keep her safe.”

“I will,” Yoonjae promised. “Good dreams to you, Taekjinnie.”

He was gone instantly.

[][][]

Taekjin woke on the sofa, tucked in neatly. He smiled tiredly. His grandmother had moved him up onto the couch, caring as she always was. The raven lie there a few minutes, glancing around the living room.

It was around noon, he was informed by the large grandfather clock in the corner, and a tantalizing smell was drifting over from the kitchen. He sat up, quickly assessing his surroundings. His backpack was leaned up against the sofa, as he had left it, the picnic basket beside it. His grandmother had moved his belongings near him, including his freshly washed clothes, but hadn’t looked through any of them.

Taekjin stood, kindly folding the sheet and blanket. Setting them in a neat pile, he left the living room, walking into the kitchen.

“Good afternoon, Taekjin. Did you sleep well?” Yoonjae asked, the baby girl cradled in a sash tied around her neck and under one arm. It was a blue cloth, serving as a sort of baby-holding hammock.

“Yes, thank you grandmother.” The teen yawned, hiding his mouth with the back of his hand. The elder was making a dish Taekjin had never seen before. “What is this called?” he wondered.

“It’s a sort of ‘breakfast stir-fry’. I’ve jumbled a few different things together, shredded potatoes, egg, cheese, sausage, and bacon. I’m not sure if you’ve changed your diet at all, but if you don’t like this, I can get you something different.” Yoonjae carefully lifted the baby holding cloth from her shoulder, handing the child to Taekjin.

He cradled the baby to his chest, slinging the makeshift strap over one shoulder, under the other.


End file.
